Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

Jan 03

Not bad… for a Monday.

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Monday – 03 January 2011
Today is the last day of my vacation; our robot overlords gave us the day off. (Did I say “overlords?” I meant “protectors.”) Tomorrow, the new work year begins. Fortunately, this is the week with my 9/80 “off” Friday, allowing me to ease into this whole “working” thing again.

So far, 2011 has been alright. After playing ‘Clix with Chris on Saturday morning, SaraRules! and I headed up to her parents’ place for a New Years’ food and football. ‘Twas good. After that, we headed to the theatre and caught Tron: Legacy. I enjoyed it; SaraRules! didn’t. And, that’s not to say that I didn’t have a couple of issues with the movie, but it was entertaining.

Sunday started with and me hitting the local Lowe’s and Home Depot. He was kind enough to offer his time – and Jeep – to allow me to pick up and transport more sawhorses, plywood and foam for my growing railroad. I still need to set up the saw horses and paint the foam. All in due time. I also need to start thinking about more permanent railroad structures — SaraRules!’ father is going to help me frame and finish the basement in the not-too-distant future. He also gave me a couple of ideas about extending my layout… vertically. I was intrigued with his idea and haven’t ruled anything out yet.

We headed back up to the in-laws’ for New Years’ leftovers. (Every bit as good the day after as they were the day of…) We watched a little football and then headed home to watch The Godfather: Part II, which I don’t believe I’d ever seen before. It was good… quite good, but I had a little bit of a rough time following the corollaries between the flashbacks and the “present day,” until the end of the movie.

Today, I met Perry and a couple of his kids for coffee. I also worked a little on a drawing that has been stagnating in my sketchbook for the better part of 10 months. It felt good to get something – anything – done on it.

Instant Replay: Football

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
7 – 13
The boys from Cincy came Baltimore to wrap up the final week of regular season play. Bonnie and Clyde… I mean, Batman and Robin… I mean “T.O. and Ocho” didn’t play, though. That’s fine, because the Ravens seemed to have a tough enough time dealing with Bengals’ QB Carson Palmer, despite FS Ed Reed’s two interceptions.But, nevertheless, the Ravens wound up coming away with  “W,” and that’s always a good thing in my book.

Sorry, and .

Ray! Hey, Ray!  Hey… yeah, so you guys just beat a division rival, are going to the Playoffs for the third straight year – a team record – and you don’t have to face Indy in the first round!  How does that make you feel?

Yeah, I bet it does feel pretty sweet!

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
31 – 10
The Raiders went to Arrowhead Stadium and scalped the Chiefs.

They finished the season 8-8, their best record in seven (7) years! They also set a curious record: It marked the first time that a team has swept their division (6-0), but did NOT make it into the playoffs.

Congrats, SaraRules! and [info]1silver_seraph.

.

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons
10 – 31
I don’t know what it is about the Panthers and teams with bird-themes, but once again, they managed to lose.

There’s always next season, I guess…

.

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots
7 – 38
The ‘Fins dropped this one to the Pats. ‘Nuff said.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Dec 23

“I’m not going to spend my life being a color…”

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Thursday – 23 December 2010
How did my NBN vacation Thursday kick off?
By picking up my parents at the airport!
Let the Christmas revels begin!

Yesterday, SaraRules! and I headed over to her parents’ house to make Christmas sugar cookies. Last night, we went back over to decorate those cookies with her parents, Sanaz and Logan. As part of the fun, I made a Green Lantern gingerbread man:

“In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No cookie shall escape my sight!”

His lantern symbol might not be awesome-looking, but it’s the best I could do with a toothpick.  I’m pretty proud of him.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
Yesterday, I had an item in my blog post that mentioned the outrage some groups are having about Idris Elba playing Heimdall in the upcoming Thor movie.  What I neglected to mention was that these same groups haven’t said ANYTHING about the fact that Tadanobu Asano was selected to portray Hogun the Grim (another Norse god)… despite the fact that Asano’s involvement was known – and fairly public – well before Elba’s.  So, let me get this straight:

  1. Some people are getting bent because a black actor is portraying a Norse god in a movie based on a comic book…?!
  2. The same people have nothing to say about an Asian actor also portraying a Norse god in the same movie based on a comic book…?

Isn’t that kind of saying,”Hey, we’re racists… sorry… “racial purist” bastards, but see, we’re only nitpicky when it comes to some people!” or am I wrong?

Stray Toasters

Yeah… that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Dec 20

Ahh, vacation…

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Monday – 20 December 2010
The song says, “Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”  Today is Monday. It is also… snowy, although there may be some rain falling somewhere in the valley. However, this combination is far from getting me down. Why?

  1. I’m on vacation.
  2. It’s only three more sleeps till my parents get here!
  3. It’s only four more sleeps till my uncle gets here!
  4. It’s only five more sleeps until Christmas!
  5. Did I mention that whole “vacation” thing? I did?  Okay, good. Just making sure.

Yesterday, SaraRules! and I knocked out a little more eleventh-hour Christmas shopping. That was good. After that, we came home for a bit. During the down time, I fired up the 360. I was planning on playing a little bit of LEGO Batman, but Fate had other plans in store: messaged me and invited me to play HALO: Reach online with him and . As I hadn’t played Reach online (heresy, I know…) and as I was going to be able to play with a couple of friends, I pulled Batman out, put Reach in and played for a bit.

A short while later, SaraRules! and I headed over to Sanaz and Logan’s. On the docket: Dinner and making/decorating a gingerbread Christmas tree:

All-in-all, it turned out well.  Steve brought the video camera, to record the event, so I’m Ivory Soap sure that there will be a trailer – if not a full-on movie – showing our exploits. Dinner was very good; we had turkey legs, homemade mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus and cranberry sauce.

After we returned home, SaraRules! watched The Godfather, which I recently realized that I had never seen in its entirety. It was good. Very good. My only complaint was the pacing — there were places in the film where you couldn’t get a firm grasp on just how much time had elapsed. Other than that, I can easily see why it’s on so many people’s favorite movie list.

Instant Replay: Football

New Orleans Saints at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 30
Drew Brees and the Saints came marchin’ into M&T Bank Stadium…

…and the Ravens sent ’em marchin’ back home with a loss.

Joe Cool and the boys started out strongly, but let the lead slip away in the second half. The game ended with another Ravens interception, this time delivered by DE Cory Redding.

With this win, the Ravens go to 10-4 and are still very much in the hunt for the AFC Playoffs Wild Card, as the #5 seed.

Coach Harbaugh! Hey, Coach!  Hey… your team just beat last year’s Super Bowl champions and are currently the #5 seed in the AFC Playoff picture!  How does that make you feel?

.

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
23 – 39
The Raiders busted the Broncs in this division win.

Congrats, SaraRules! and [info]1silver_seraph.

.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers
12 – 19
The Panthers hosted the Cards…

…and found a way to come up with a win.

Sorry, Marr.

.

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
17 – 19
The Bengals came away with the win in this “Battle of Ohio”

Congrats, [info]carefreespirit and [info]janietrain!

.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
17 – 14
The ‘Fins dropped this one to the Bills, making them 0-3 against division rivals this season.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Dec 15

“I sing the body electric…”

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Wednesday – 15 December 2010
Another Comics (and possibly Sushi) Day is upon us!
Today also marks the release of WizKids’ DC 75th Anniversary HeroClix Set.

This morning started with a fresh 2-3″ blanket of snow. My first thought, upon looking out the window this morning, was: “I do not feel like dealing with this.” I put it off for fifteen minutes, but the snow didn’t magically shovel itself, so… I went out and cleared the driveway and sidewalks.

Yesterday was a good day at work. Thanks to the help of my coworker, James, I was able to get through a problem that was keeping me from getting some work done on a particular server. If today and/or tomorrow are like that, I’ll have worry-free (at least as far as work-related issues go) vacation.

Last night, I headed over to Chris’ place to play HeroClix. It’s been a while since the two of us have faced off in a friendly game. We had considered playing one theme, but wound up changing our plan after I got there. We wound up playing the X-Men (Chris) vs. the Avengers. Chris won – but not without taking a couple losses. It was a good game, though. And it was fun.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Dec 09

“More than meets the eye.”

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Thursday – 09 December 2010
I’d like to wish a “Happy No Bad News Thursday” and a “Happy Birthday” to my good friend and favorite comic book-reading, motorcycle-riding band director: MarknTyme

Congratulations on completing another circle around the sun!

Last night was D&D (4th ed.) game night. And, like Tuesday’s game, there were zombies. During the game, I encountered an interesting phenomenon (do DO do-do-do!): My dice rolled fairly well for me… but failed to roll well three consecutive times when I was trying to keep Jack’s character from dying. (No, it wasn’t because I was planning on looting his corpse. This time.) Other than that, it was a good night’s gaming session. And, as an added “plus,” it seems as though my former coworker, Josh, will be joining our group.

Stray Toasters

And with that…

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Dec 02

“…because it’s loud with the Shop-Vac on.”

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Thursday – 02 December 2010
Three down.
One in the chamber.
One to go.

And that’s how another No Bad News Thursday kicks off.

Last night was D&D Encounters night with Melody, Jack, and company. We were a couple of party members short, so it was a bit of a grind. Seriously. Melody didn’t pull any punches and I think that the characters in the encounter all had brushes with near-death. But, it was still fun.

After I got home, SaraRules! and I watched Sunshine Cleaning. I’d heard about it last year and it has blipped on and off my radar since then. It was a good movie. No big special effects. A simple story. Good acting. All-in-all, a very solid presentation. The movie stars Amy Adams as Rose, a single mother trying to make ends meet. When her situation goes from “bearable, but not great” to “something’s got to give,” Rose decides to change her career path in a somewhat unexpected manner: She opens a crime scene clean-up company. It would be far from the truth to say “Hilarity ensues.” It would be more apt to say “Life goes on… for some.” SaraRules! and I agreed that this was a refreshing change of pace from the quick cut scene, always moving at fast forward, mega-blockbuster movies that are so prevalent today.

Stray Toasters

Nov 30

“Here comes the sun…”

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Tuesday – 30 November 2010
Day Two of the work week and the day started with the sun beaming over the mountains.
No new snow.
No heavy clouds.
Just bright sun.

It’s nice.
Now, if we can only get above freezing…

Last night, came over and we watched the Niners-Cardinals game. I don’t know what happened to the Cards, but they looked far from the Super Bowl contenders from last season. The Niners, on the other hand, looked pretty solid.  I was happy to see QB Troy Smith have a decent game.

Stray Toasters

And, now… back to the grind.

Namaste.

Nov 25

“Six-thirty-two in the morning on Thanksgiving Day…”

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Thursday – 25 November 2010
It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the States.

Yesterday wound up being relatively low-key. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In the afternoon, I made stops at Dr. Volt’s and The Train Shoppe. On the trip between the two stores, I saw an accident happen, about 25 yards ahead of me: I was heading north along 7th East when a southbound car decided to turn left… in front of the car that I was behind. I don’t know exactly “how” it happened, but the result was that the south-to-eastbound car t-boned the northbound car. The northbound car spun 180 degrees and wound up sitting at the northeast corner; the south-to-eastbound car just kind of… stopped in the middle of the intersection. (Thirty minutes later, as I was heading home, both cars and drivers were still sitting at the intersection, waiting on the police, though the offender had moved her car to the southeast corner.)

After I got home, SaraRules! and I headed to The Garden of Sweden. We needed some additional chairs, as we’re having the SaraRules!’ family over for dinner today. We opted to have dinner out, stopping at Outback Steakhouse. Hello, Prime Rib… When we returned to the house, I started making a sweet potato pie for (one of) tonight’s desserts.

I woke up early this morning and discovered something that no home owner ever wants to find: Our pipes had frozen. It’s been about… 20 years… since I’ve dealt with that – and the last time, the pipes just burst – so my first reaction was more “inaction,” while trying to suss out what to do. (Hey, it was 6:15 AM. My brain was still on “Standby.”)  Fortunately, I married someone who not only has a high INT, but a pretty high WIS, too. She called the water department, to make sure that there wasn’t a problem with the main. (There wasn’t.) Next step: Heating the pipes. Carefully. SaraRules! started with a hair dryer at the main. A little while later, I remembered that we have a pipe in the ceiling of the family room that could have been part of the problem. Sure enough, that seemed like it might have been the culprit (or at least a co-conspirator).  After a little heat application, we had running water again. Amen. This gave us yet another thing for we could not only be thankful, but also it also offers us a great “Remember that first Thanksgiving in the house…?” story.)

Stray Toasters

And with that… it’s about time to start on the Cornish Hens.

Namaste.

Nov 24

“Twas the snowy day before Thanksgiving…”

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Wednesday – 24 November 2010
Today begins my 5-day weekend.
I celebrated by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks.

Yesterday, we were forecast to have a huge blizzard. We got a few inches of snow. That’s not too bad. The main concern, however, was that the today’s temperature is not supposed to get above freezing. With that in mind, The Council for Better Driving: Utah reminds all drivers to take care when venturing out on the roads today.

Last night, SaraRules! and I did something we haven’t done in a while: We watched NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles. It’s kind of funny, considering that we have the shows set to record on the DVR. SaraRules! had also baked cookies and fixed hot chocolate.  Win-Win!

After watching TV, I went to work on the model railroad. More specifically, I reconfigured the layout. Again. This time, I’ve gone with a U-shaped layout, with a 4’x8′ table on either side of the room with two tracks running between them, along the base of the U:

This allows me to have a residential/commercial setting on the right table and a rail yard on the left table. (As you can see, the rail yard could use a little more track… but all things in good time.) I also have about three feet of clear space at the end of the right table that I could use to expand that side of the layout, If I’m feeling adventurous. Another thing that I like about this setup is that I’m literally in the middle of the action; yeah, it’s kind of geeky, but it makes me smile.

Something that I’d love to do – time, money, and space allowing for it – is to put a bridge (or two) over the span in the middle. I think that would just look neat. With that, I’m also trying to see if I could do a short run – or maybe just a passing line – under the bridge.  But, that will mostly depend on how much clearance the track has from the top of the board.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Nov 19

“Look in my eyes, what do you see..?”

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Friday – 19 November 2010
It’s almost the weekend.
Just a few more hours and it shall be upon us.
Amen.

Last night, SaraRules! and I had a date night – we had dinner at Cafe Zupas and went to see Unstoppable. It’s been “a while” since I’ve seen a good disaster movie involving a train (I don’t agree with all of the movies on this list, but it’s a good starting point). It was a fun and entertaining movie – you have Malcolm X and Captain Kirk saving the day, after all! How can that be a “bad” thing?! Sure, you have to suspend a bit of disbelief in some places, but it’s worth it. I give it a big, old thumbs-up with an okay.

::: Interlude :::
Today’s iTunes shuffle has been good with music to get the day moving:

…and bonus song (because it reminds me of Good Lovin’)…

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Nov 13

Saturday Afternoon Quick Hit

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Saturday – 13 November 2010
So far, it’s been a good day… and it’s only half over.  I’d call that a “win,” quite frankly.

<< Rewind <<
and I went to the Wasatch Rails Train Show yesterday afternoon. It is at the Utah State Fairpark and runs through tomorrow afternoon; it’s being held in the Grand and Promontory Buildings.  There is a lot of model railroading goodness there. A. Lot. I missed out on an amazing deal on some Fastrack, but I did come home with a book that I used to own when I was much, much younger.

After the train show, I came home and painted one of my train tables green. Doing so gives me a (more or less) “grass-colored” board AND it saved me from having to buy a grass mat. And, if I want a more grass-like surface, I can use some Spray Mount© and sprinkle flocking on the boards. Next, it was off to coffee and dinner…

This morning, ‘s father came over to look at our furnace and give us an estimate on installing a new and more energy-efficient unit. Turns out that if we hurry, we should be able to get in on some good incentives and rebates.

And, tonight: Oz with Orchestra

Stray Toasters

Off to find some trouble to get into…

Namaste.

Nov 03

“Where are you?” “Here.” “What time is it?” “Now.”

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Wednesday – 03 November 2010
Midweek.
Of course, that also means that its Comics and Sushi Wednesday, too!

And, it’s ‘s birthday:

Last night was D&D night with and company. It was a good game. No one died, although Alex’ character gave it the old college try. And we met a new party member, before things were all said and done.

Today’s musical interlude comes in two parts:

  • Jesus Jones – Right Here, Right Now

  • Van Halen – Right Now

Stray Toasters

The show must go on!

Namaste.

Oct 29

“Look! Up in the sky…!”

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Friday – 29 October 2010
It’s my 9/80 “off” Friday and the start of my weekend. Amen.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to Market Street Grill for the retirement party of my company’s President/COO.  It was done as a cocktail hour… without cocktails, but was still a nice affair.

After that, we came home and got ready for the evening’s entertainment: We had SaraRules!’s parents, brother and his fiancee over for Hallowe’en cookie decorating and then watched the classic Disney The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, featuring the voice of Bing Crosby.  It was a fun way to spend the evening.

Stray Toasters

That’s good for now. I need to get ready to get out of here — and I are grabbing lunch and then heading up to Ogden to visit The Wonderful World of Trains.

Namaste.

Oct 27

The day after…

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Wednesday – 27 October 2010
First day back in the office.
First day of snow in the valley.
Yay.

But, it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday… so that helps to make it considerably better.

Yesterday was an amazing day. That’s really the only way to sum it up. Although I’ve known for a few weeks that I had a “birthday surprise” on tap from SaraRules!, I had no idea what it was until 0830 yesterday morning:

Yep… she got me the Ford Racing High Performance Driving School Mustang Experience package at the Miller Motorsports Park. And it was fantastic!

Granted, first thing in the morning, I wasn’t quite as gung-ho about it. In fact, I would describe it more as “ho-hum.” But, when I got out there and discovered exactly what I was in for, my attitude changed. A lot. Over the course of the day we:

  • …took a tour of The Larry H. Miller Total Performance Auto Museum, which houses part of the LHM auto collection,
  • …got 30 minutes of class instruction on high performance driving,
  • …went out on the track and got to drive race-tuned Mustang GTs for ten (10) laps, in a lead-follow behind a professional driver,
  • …rode for two (2) laps with a pro driver — we got to see how the course is supposed to be run,
  • …toured the entire MMP facility, and
  • …got to ride on the go-kart track.

After the whole thing was over, I went back to the museum and took pictures of the car collection. A lot of pictures. Jason, who did our earlier tour of the museum and grounds, was around to talk about each car and the stories behind them; he was very informative. I was expecting to be gone for two (maybe three) hours; all told, it was there for nearly five-and-a-half hours! And it was chock full of awesome!

On the way back home, I stopped at SaraRules! office to thank her (profusely) for such a fun birthday present. From there, I went to The Train Shoppe — I needed some rails to make a couple of siding spurs. Then… home.

We went out for dinner to Rodizio Grill.  Can you say “Meat o’clock,” boys and girls?  I knew you could! Yeah, it was totally “game on” with meats on a stick. And grilled pineapple. And caiphirinas. And their Chocolate Cake Sundae. Want to talk about a couple of VERY full people…?  We were stuffed to the proverbial gills.

We ended the evening with Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension.  Somehow, I had never seen this movie before, although it was apparently a staple of SaraRules! and her sibs’ childhood. It was silly. And campy. And terribly fun.

All-in-all, it was a wonderful day to turn 40.

Stray Toasters

Yeah, that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Oct 22

In the words of Pep Streebeck: “Thank God, it’s Friday!”

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Friday – 22 October 2010
Bonus points to those of you who get the subject line without having to look it up.

It’s my 9/80 “on” Friday.
It started off somewhat quietly… but it picked up a little, around 9:45. No big deal. Nothing insurmountable.

Last night, after a couple of rounds of “Let’s Clean the House,” I managed to sneak off to Nova Praetoria for a while. I hadn’t played City for a week or two, so it was a nice change of pace. I ran a few missions. I leveled up once. I remembered how slow running through a city can be… although it’s still faster than Hover.

I also got in a bit more reading in Starship Troopers.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

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